Empire unusual suggested

4 PASSPORT TO MAGONIA
short arms, and large heads obviously covered with complete
helmets.
On the nature of the helmets archaeologists disagree. In 1924,
because he thought that its expression looked like that found on
a wooden mask made in Africa, Dr. Gento Hasebe proposed that
the headgear was in reality a mourning mask used at burials. In
the Tohoku area of northern Japan, however, some of the most
elaborate statues of this kind show something like a pair of "sunglasses":
huge eyes with an insectlike horizontal slit—a truly
remarkable design. Supposedly, the statues of the later part of the
Jomon Era were first made with earth, then copied on rock or soft
stone. Those found in Komukai, Nambu Province, are carved in
rock and show helmets. One of them, a Jomon Dogu dated
4300 B.C. and excavated at the Amadaki ruins in the Iwatc Prefecture,
shows details of the front part of the helmet, with a round
opening at the base of the nose, below what appears to be a large
perforated plate.
The resemblance of the Dogu costume to a pressure suit of the
type used by divers and astronauts is the relevant factor here. It
has led some students of the Jomon Era to speculate that the
statues might indicate the distant memory of visitors from space.
The headgear with its filter, the large goggles, the necks with wide
collars, and the one-piece suits certainly bear a close resemblance
to modern space gear. The fact that the sculptors made these
figurines hollow is another puzzling element. Altogether, the Far
East is a rich source of reports of supernatural beings and celestial
signs, as we shall now sec.
SORCERERS FROM THE CLOUDS
It is common belief that the term "flying saucer" was "made in
America." Was it not coined by an American businessman in
1947? Was not the first official investigation of the mystery by
military authorities started in the United States a few weeks later?
Well, yes. But a farmer from Texas described a dark flying
object as a "large saucer" as early as January, 1878,5 and ancient
Japanese records inform us that on October 27, 1180, an unusual
luminous object described as an "earthenware vessel" flew from
VISIONS OF A PARALLEL WORLD 5
a mountain in the Kii Province beyond the northeast mountain
of Fukuhara at midnight. After a while, the object changed its
course and was lost to sight at the southern horizon, leaving a
luminous trail.
"In view of the time which has elapsed since the sighting"—as
U.S. Air Force investigators like to say—it would be difficult to
obtain additional data today. It is interesting, however, to find a
medieval Japanese chronicler speaking of flying earthenware.
The Japanese must also receive credit for having organized the
first official investigation, and the story is so amusing, and parallels
so well recent activities of the U.S. Air Force that I cannot resist
reproducing it here.
The date was September 24, 1235, seven centuries before our
time, and General Yontsume was camping with his army. Suddenly,
a curious phenomenon was observed: mysterious sources
of light were seen to swing and circle in the southwest, moving in
loops until the early morning. General Yoritsumc ordered what
we would now term a "full-scale scientific investigation," and his
consultants set to work. Fairly soon they made their report. "The
whole thing is completely natural, General," they said in substance.
"It is only the wind making the stars sway." My source of
information for this report, Yusuke J. Matsumura, of Yokohama,
adds sadly: "Scholars on government pay have always made ambiguous
statements like this!"
Celestial phenomena seem to have been so commonplace in
the Japanese skies during the Middle Ages that they influenced
human events in a direct way. Panics, riots and disruptive social
movements were often linked to celestial apparitions. The
Japanese peasants had the disagreeable tendency to interpret the
"signs from heaven" as strong indications that their revolts and
demands against the feudal system or against foreign invaders
were just, and as assurance that their rebellions would be crowned
with success. Numerous examples of such situations can be
quoted, For instance, on September 12, 1271, the famous priest
Nichircn was about to be beheaded at Tatsunokuchi, Kamakura,
when there appeared in the sky an object like a full moon, shiny
and bright. Needless to say, the officials panicked and the execulion
was not carried out."